Chapter 476: Rebel!

People like Yu Yu Zhaoan are accustomed to upper-level struggles, favoring indirection, gradual progress, patient guidance, and excelling at using open schemes and officialdom's rules to break the deadlock.

This method is destined not to be fierce; on the surface it looks calm, but undercurrents churn beneath. All the contests happen beneath the table. The flashes of blades beneath the table are unfit to be brought onto the table—it's improper, it damages one's reputation.

They treat their reputation with more gravity than their very lives.

Life can be lost, but one's name must not be tarnished.

Commonly known as cherishing one's feathers.

But now there is a group of people who can be called hot-tempered, or alternatively, the vanguard eager to break the old rules and establish new ones. It all depends on which angle you view it from.

This group, represented by Zhao Mingqiao, has no patience for that tepid style, where the fiercest struggle is tossing stinky socks at each other. All that back-alley blade-play—they don't bother with that set. If you're going to fight, you fight with real knives and real guns, face to face. One face in public, another behind the scenes—they despise it.

And so, at a moment when the grand assembly droned on endlessly, resolving nothing, a group of young officials once again stormed the Taiji Palace.

They didn't smash or loot; they intended to ask the old Emperor to step down, abdicate in favor of the worthy, and go be the Retired Emperor. After all, he's been unconscious anyway—stop hogging the latrine without doing the business.

This is treason of the highest order!

Utterly absurd!

How dare you!

In three hundred years of the dynasty, there has never been such an outrageous affair—how could one force His Majesty to abdicate and become the Retired Emperor? It's the greatest joke under heaven. If this actually succeeded, everyone present would be recorded in the history books and roundly cursed by posterity.

Led by Li Xiang, a group of senior ministers rushed to the Taiji Palace at the head of the Brocade Guard and the Imperial Guard.

They ran straight into those impetuous, reckless young officials, who were carrying the dragon bed, hauling the unconscious old Emperor out of his sleeping hall.

The eunuchs and palace maids of the Taiji Palace couldn't stop them; each one was so frightened their face went white.

Qiu Qiu Defu, the Chief Eunuch of the Inner Palace, was so furious smoke practically rose from his head.

He had only stepped away to attend a meeting with the court ministers—how long had he been gone? —and yet such a horrifying thing had occurred.

Absurd? It was far more than that!

It was outright sacrilege—plain and simple treason.

"This old servant today is going to see for himself just who dares force His Majesty to abdicate in favor of the worthy and become the Retired Emperor. I'll tell you all: aside from His Majesty himself, no one is permitted to act wantonly within the Taiji Palace, no one is permitted to lay a finger on imperial authority. Any who dare offend shall be deemed rebels! Brocade Guard, where are you? Seize these traitorous villains at once—seize them all, throw them into the Imperial Prison and interrogate them savagely. Find out exactly who sent them, what plots and schemes lie behind this. Once it's wrung out, spare not a single one—execute them all."

"Let's see who dares arrest anyone! The dynasty teeters on the brink of destruction, yet you all still squabble over power and profit. The rebels are nearly at the gates of Jingcheng, and you still pin your hopes on an unconscious old man. Tell me—if His Majesty doesn't wake for a single day, does the dynasty simply cease to function? Do we cease to care whether the common folk of the realm live or die? Tell me—if His Majesty doesn't wake for a single day, even if the rebels batter at the walls of Jingcheng, must we keep holding those tedious meetings, keep plodding through discussions step by step? Must we wait until the kingdom is lost before you'll stir? Before you'll admit His Majesty can no longer bear the weight of the dynasty? How long will you keep covering your own ears and stealing your own bells?"

Zhao Mingqiao stepped forward of his own accord, raised his arm and cried out at the top of his voice, and the young officials roared in unison in support.

Time waits for no one!

Since His Majesty cannot wake, since he can no longer shoulder the heavy task of governing the realm, he should abdicate in favor of the worthy and go be his Retired Emperor. How can he continue to occupy the throne?

The throne is not the throne of the Song clan's single surname—it is the throne of all the realm's common folk, the throne of men of ambition. How can one man's private desires be allowed to drag the whole world down with him?

Does the dynasty truly lack men?

Does the imperial house truly lack men?

"You princes and imperial princes, this minister dares to ask—is there a single one among you who will step forward at this moment and shoulder the dynasty's burden? Whoever steps forward, I will acknowledge him as Emperor!"

Zhao Mingqiao's words could truly be called earth-shattering—audacious and reckless enough to publicly flip the table and shatter the rules.

The senior ministers one after another rebuked him: "Absurd!"

"How dare you!"

"The dynasty has its own national conditions—how can you be allowed to spout such wild nonsense here."

"Shut your mouth! Do not ruin propriety and decorum."

"The succession of the throne has its own rules. Zhao Mingqiao, you reckless scholar—fall back at this official's command."

"Zhao Mingqiao, you are a traitor who brings ruin to the state and misery to the people. Brocade Guard, what are you waiting for? Seize him and throw him into the Imperial Prison."

"Who dares arrest Lord Zhao? We will fight them to the death."

"If you want to take Lord Zhao, you'll have to step over my corpse first."

"Do not harm Lord Zhao! You insects only know how to fight over power and profit, never thinking of country or people, never considering the realm. You are the dynasty's criminals—you should step down alongside the old Emperor and abdicate in favor of the worthy."

"The old Emperor is greedy, stupid, and incompetent—he should have abdicated long ago. Now that he's unconscious, clearly even Heaven can't stand to watch any longer. At this moment, we men of principle must step forth and let sunlight pierce through the layers of darkness to shine upon the realm."

"Abdicate!"

"Abdicate!"

"Abdicate!"

"His Majesty must abdicate today! You princes and imperial princes—is there not a single one among you with any guts? Not one who dares step forward? Whoever is willing to step forward and say the words 'I will shoulder the dynasty's burden,' we will support that man as Emperor."

"Forget those broken rules. These are extraordinary times—the capable shall take the throne!"

"Shut your mouths! Demagoguery, it's all demagoguery. You princes and imperial princes, you must not be bewitched by these madmen! The succession of the throne has its own rules—do not, on a momentary impulse, cost your lordships your lives." Li Xiang pleaded with bitter earnestness.

As the head of all officials, his words carried immense weight. One man alone was enough to suppress a whole mob of impetuous, frenzied young officials.

Zhao Mingqiao suddenly leapt onto the table, seizing the high ground: "Li Li Liangcheng, you old fossil. Useless at civil governance, useless at military command. As Left Chancellor, you watched helplessly as court affairs rotted away day by day, utterly unable to respond. And that is not the worst of it—the gravest charge is that you sat by while the old Emperor deposed the Crown Prince. Tell me, what crime did the Crown Prince commit?"

"What crime did the Crown Prince commit?" The young officials were absolutely the best straight men. Not only did they coordinate with Zhao Mingqiao to brainwash the assembled ministers, they also ringed him round with their bodies to ensure the Brocade Guard couldn't seize him.

The Brocade Guard were hamstrung—though they had a thousand tricks, they did not dare employ them on this group of officials.

Always leave a line of retreat, so you can meet again in the future!

This is the open rule of officialdom.

Unless you intend to utterly offend someone, going all the way and killing them outright. If you can't kill them, you must be prepared for their revenge.

Since there's no certainty of finishing them off in one stroke, don't do things to the extreme—leave some room for buffer.

Furthermore, the Brocade Guard's reputation was already poor; if they unleashed all eighteen kinds of torture, some of the wavering, undecided officials present might well switch to Zhao Mingqiao's side, which would not be conducive to overall stability.

"You feast on the dynasty's bounty yet do not share its burdens, do not consider the common folk of the realm. Do you know your crimes?" Zhao Mingqiao furiously waved his arms and bellowed.

"Do you know your crimes?" the young officials roared, their fury soaring to the clouds.

"His Majesty has been unconscious not for a day or two—it has been many days now. Court affairs have ground to a halt, the realm is anxious. With great upheaval clearly about to descend, you do not think of solutions, but instead cling to your so-called outdated conventions. If one day the dynasty meets with disaster, you will all be the culprits!"

"All of you are culprits!"

Rebel!